Refurbishing Plastic Regulator Casings

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Phil_C

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Anyone got any suggestions/advice.

I have acquired a pair of Scubapro Mk25/G250V regulators that I have acquired that have had a hard life.

I have had them serviced and internally they are perfect and they work perfectly, but the casings look terrible and have been bashed about and become scratched and have faded to a dull grey.

At the moment I have just changed the mouth pieces for new ones, but I would like to try to improve the look of the casings if possible.

Pretty much in the same way there are products you can buy and you can use to refurbish and recolour car bumpers and trim I'm wondering if there is a safe way to clean and tidy the cases up at all?

Any ideas?

Cheers - Phil.
 
I've restored a couple of plastic regulator bodies using an automotive polishing kit, plus a plastic polishing kit (micro mesh), plus steel wool (grade 000)

Start with the grit of sandpaper or crocus cloth that will produce the same depth of impression that matches the worst scratch and continue on using finer and finer grit. With each grit change sand in a perpendicular direction to the previous.

When you finally get to the polishing point you can expedite the process with a polishing pad that chucks up in a drill motor.

I've heard, but not tried, there is a technique using flame.

At any rate, start this project only if you love this regulator so much that you cannot live with seeing the scratches.

Good luck, and if possible, would you please log your progress here and include pictures.

Couv
 
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
Why would you want a plastic regulator ???? Yes, The flame of a propane torch will bring it back to almost new... Get some old plastic to work on first... It's a art to know how much heat and time to let the outer plastic start to "flow" but not to let the overall part lose it's shape..... I have a pile of useless parts that I learned on...

Jim....

PS... It's good to have a bucket of cold water to set the plastic if needed...:wink:
 
Thanks for the feedback guys, -

I have stripped the regs, cleaned them in a sonic bath, then had them re-assembled by a scuba pro engineer with a new service kit and seals etc, so am totally confident in their functionality, and they breath really nice.

I'm not too fussed about the cosmetics, and certainly don't want to try anything that is at all risky, but if there was an easy and safe way to improve the looks I would not be adverse to it.

They had sat in a damp garage, still attached to a twinset, for five years after their last dive, and had not been cleaned after that dive. I acquired the full set, twin tanks, bands and manifold, regs and first stages, spg backplate and wing for the equivalent of a couple of hundred dollars.

They were full of salt and scale and basically they look like they have been dragged along the pavement, scuffed and scratched to heck, and faded from black to grey, but underwater who cares.

So far the backplate is cleaned and serviceable again with a new harness (the old fell apart), the wing functioning again (about a cup full of salt came out of it), the tanks are cleaned, hydro'd and O2 cleaned, and regs serviced and back in action.

The final thing I wanted to try was to make the regs look a little better, although I know they are clean and safe they do not look like something you want to put in your mouth :)

Phil.
 
Why would you want a plastic regulator ???? Yes, The flame of a propane torch will bring it back to almost new... Get some old plastic to work on first... It's a art to know how much heat and time to let the outer plastic start to "flow" but not to let the overall part lose it's shape..... I have a pile of useless parts that I learned on...

Jim....

PS... It's good to have a bucket of cold water to set the plastic if needed...:wink:

I have seen the heat trick done on car bumpers - I might try that - SP G250 bodies are some sort of plastic, I didn't get any choice :)
 
The final thing I wanted to try was to make the regs look a little better, although I know they are clean and safe they do not look like something you want to put in your mouth :)


Never mind...
 
Why would you want a plastic regulator ???? Yes, The flame of a propane torch will bring it back to almost new... Get some old plastic to work on first... It's a art to know how much heat and time to let the outer plastic start to "flow" but not to let the overall part lose it's shape..... I have a pile of useless parts that I learned on...

Jim....

PS... It's good to have a bucket of cold water to set the plastic if needed...:wink:

O.M.G. !, It's melting !, It's melting !, It's melting !, It's melting !
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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